Inflatable anti-leakage device

ABSTRACT

An inflatable anti-leakage device is adapted to be plugged into a hole in a liquid container for preventing leakage of liquid from the hole, and includes a rigid support member, an air bag that surrounds and is connected to the support member and that is adapted to be inflated to block the hole of the liquid container upon insertion of the support member into the hole, an inflation unit that is disposed for inflating the air bag, and a driving mechanism that is disposed for actuating the inflation action of the inflation unit upon receipt of an actuating signal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No. 103222259, filed on Dec. 16, 2014.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to an inflatable anti-leakage device, and more particularly to an inflatable anti-leakage device adapted to be plugged into a hole in a liquid container for preventing leakage of liquid from the hole.

BACKGROUND

Since a liquid container often contains chemical fluid, such as an organic solvent, when a hole or crack is formed in the container and the fluid stored therein begins to leak, damage may be caused to the surrounding environment and those within it. Therefore, it is necessary to take immediate action to prevent further leakage from the hole.

Conventionally, an object, such as a plug, is inserted into the hole as a temporary measure against further leakage. However, holes are often formed in irregular shapes and sizes, making it difficult for an operator to find an object of fitting size and shape to plug the hole at moment's notice and potentially leaving gaps for the fluid to escape from.

Furthermore, when leakage occurs from a liquid container, especially one of larger size, the leak is usually accompanied by high liquid pressure from within the container, which is made even higher during the hole-plugging process, so that not only is the process a time and effort-consuming ordeal, but puts the operator at more and more risk of being harmed by the chemical fluid as time progresses. Even further, should the plugging of the hole be incomplete due to reasons mentioned above, the plugged object may easily capitulate to the liquid pressure and be pushed outward of the liquid container, thus reopening the hole. Hence, an anti-leakage device that is not only versatile and effective, but therefore also promotes the safety of the operator, is called for in the art.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide an inflatable anti-leakage device that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.

According to the disclosure, the inflatable anti-leakage device is adapted to be plugged into a hole in a liquid container for preventing leakage of liquid from the hole, and includes a rigid support member, an air bag that surrounds and is connected to the support member and that is adapted to be inflated to block the hole of the liquid container upon insertion of the support member into the hole, an inflation unit that is disposed for inflating the air bag, and a driving mechanism that is disposed for actuating the inflation action of the inflation unit upon receipt of an actuating signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a partly exploded perspective view illustrating a first embodiment of an inflatable anti-leakage device according to the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the first embodiment in use and in a deflated state;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the first embodiment in use and in an inflated state;

FIG. 5 is a partly exploded sectional view illustrating a second embodiment of the inflatable anti-leakage device in use;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view illustrating a third embodiment of the inflatable anti-leakage device in use before inflation of an inflatable press member;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 6, but illustrating the third embodiment after inflation of the inflatable press member; and

FIG. 8 is a side view of the third embodiment, showing two fastening members being attached thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a first embodiment of an inflatable anti-leakage device according to the disclosure is adapted to be plugged into a hole 91 in a liquid container 9 for preventing leakage of liquid from the hole 91.

The first embodiment of the inflatable anti-leakage device includes a rigid support member 2, a handle 3 that is connected to the support member 2, an air bag 4 that surrounds and is connected to the support member 2, an inflation unit 5 that is disposed for inflating the airbag 4, and a driving mechanism 6 that is disposed for actuating an inflation action of the inflation unit 5.

In this embodiment, the support member 2 is formed as a solid, elongated rod made of plastic material. In other embodiments of the disclosure, the support member 2 may be made of wood material, plastic material, reinforced plastic material, or metal material, and may be formed as either solid or hollow in structure, without being limited by the embodiment.

The handle 3 is adapted to be disposed outside of the container 9 and to have a grip size fitting that of an average adult, and may either be made of the same material as that of the support member 2, or be made of other, similarly durable materials.

The air bag 4 is made of rubber and is at least 1 millimeter in thickness, so as to ensure sufficient strength and resiliency after repeated inflation/deflation thereof. Alternatively, the rubber airbag 4 may have a thickness of less than 1 millimeter, but be covered with a net of metal or cloth to increase its overall structural strength. In addition, the support member 2 and the air bag 4 may be coated with an acid and alkali-resistant layer, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polypropylene (PP) to prevent damage thereto by any corrosive fluids stored in the liquid container 9.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the inflation unit 5 in this embodiment includes a gas cylinder 51 disposed in the air bag 4 for inflating the air bag 4 with gases such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogen (N₂), or other compressed gas and may be made of metal, reinforced plastic, or other similarly durable materials.

The driving mechanism 6 includes a pulling cord 61 that has one end connected to a valve 511 of the gas cylinder 51, and an opposite end extending outwardly from the air bag 4 to be pulled by an operator. By pulling the pulling cord 61, the operator sends an actuating signal to drive the valve 511, which in turn actuates the gas cylinder 51 to proceed inflating the air bag with the gas stored within. However, in other embodiments of the disclosure, the configuration of the inflation unit 5 and the driving mechanism 6 may vary.

In use, the operator grips the handle 3 and extends the air bag 4 and the support member 2 into the hole 91, then pulls the pulling cord 61 to actuate the gas cylinder 51 to begin inflating the air bag 4. During inflation, the airbag 4 not only forms naturally around the edges of the hole 91 to tightly seal off the liquid container 9, but pushes back against the liquid pressure from the liquid within the liquid container 9 to quickly and effectively cut off the leakage.

According to the disclosure above, the inflatable anti-leakage device has at least the following advantages:

1. Since the air bag 4 is easily deformable prior to inflation, the operator can extend the slender but structurally durable support member 2 along with the air bag 4 into the hole 91 without encountering much resistance from the liquid pressure within the liquid container 9, thus saving time and effort and protecting the safety of the operator by preventing random spurts of chemical fluids caused by the liquid pressure.

2. The inflation unit 5 and the driving mechanism 6 cooperate to inflate the air bag 4, pushing out against the liquid pressure and stopping the leakage in short order.

3. During inflation, the air bag 4 is capable of snugly abutting against the periphery of the hole 91, thereby effectively stopping leakage from a hole 91 of any shape or size.

Referring to FIG. 5, a second embodiment of the inflatable anti-leakage device according to the disclosure is similar in structure to the first embodiment, except that the support member 2 of the second embodiment further has a threaded hole 21, and the handle 3 of the second embodiment further has a threaded portion 31 to threadedly and removably engage the threaded hole 21 so that the handle 3 is distal from the air bag 4. However, in other embodiments of the disclosure, the method of engagement between the support member 2 and the handle 3 may be varied.

With the arrangement of this embodiment, once the air bag 4 has been inflated to stop the leakage from the hole 91, the handle 3 may be removed to avoid collision with objects from the exterior environment, which may negatively affect the effectiveness of the inflatable anti-leakage device, and to free up space in the exterior environment.

Referring to FIGS. 6 to 8, a third embodiment of the inflatable anti-leakage device according to the disclosure is similar in structure to the second embodiment, except that the inflatable anti-leakage device of the third embodiment further includes an inflatable press member 7 adapted to cover the hole of the liquid container 9 entirely, an auxiliary inflation unit 5′ disposed for inflating the inflatable press member 7, an auxiliary driving mechanism 6′ disposed for actuating the inflation action of the auxiliary inflation unit 5′ upon receipt of an actuating signal, and two fastening members 8 adapted to fix the inflatable press member 7 tightly against the liquid container 9.

In this embodiment, the auxiliary inflation unit 5′ includes a gas cylinder 51′ that is disposed in the inflatable press member 7 and that has a valve 511′. The auxiliary driving mechanism 6′ includes a pulling cord 61′ that is connected to the valve 511′ and that extends outwardly of the inflatable press member 7 in a manner similar to the pulling cord 61. The fastening members 8 of this embodiment are configured as, but not limited to being, adjustable cable ties.

In use, the third embodiment of the disclosure allows for the handle 3 to be removed from the support member 2 and the inflatable press member 7 to be s trapped against the support member 2 by the fastening members 8, thereby firmly covering the entire hole 91 as a further measure for preventing leakage therefrom. The operator may then pull on the pulling cord 61′ of the auxiliary driving mechanism 6′ to transmit the actuating signal so that the gas cylinder 51′ of the auxiliary inflation unit 5′ inflates the inflatable press member 7. At this time, the fully inflated inflatable press member 7 is tightly forced against the hole 91 of the liquid container 9 by the fastening members 8 to counteract the liquid pressure pushing against the air bag 4 from within the liquid container 9, so that the air bag 4 is prevented from being pushed outward of the liquid container 9 and the leakage is effectively eliminated.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An inflatable anti-leakage device adapted to be plugged into a hole in a liquid container for preventing leakage of liquid from the hole, said inflatable anti-leakage device comprising: a rigid support member; an air bag that surrounds and is connected to said support member, and that is adapted to be inflated to block the hole of the liquid container upon insertion of said support member into the hole; an inflation unit that is disposed for inflating said air bag; and a driving mechanism that is disposed for actuating the inflation action of said inflation unit upon receipt of an actuating signal.
 2. The inflatable anti-leakage device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: an inflatable press member that is adapted to cover the hole of the liquid container entirely; an auxiliary inflation unit that is disposed for inflating said inflatable press member; an auxiliary driving mechanism that is disposed for actuating the inflation action of said auxiliary inflation unit upon receipt of an actuating signal; and at least one fastening member that is adapted to fix said inflatable press member to the liquid container.
 3. The inflatable anti-leakage device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a handle that is connected to said support member and that is adapted to be disposed outside of the liquid container.
 4. The inflatable anti-leakage device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a handle that is connected removably to an end of said support member distal from said air bag.
 5. The inflatable anti-leakage device as claimed in claim 4, further comprising: an inflatable press member that is adapted to cover the hole of the liquid container entirely after removal of said handle from said support member; an auxiliary inflation unit that is disposed for inflating said inflatable press member; an auxiliary driving mechanism that is disposed for actuating the inflation action of said auxiliary inflation unit upon receipt of an actuating signal; and at least one fastening member that is adapted to fixing said inflatable press member to the liquid container.
 6. The inflatable anti-leakage device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support member is configured as an elongated rod.
 7. The inflatable anti-leakage device as claimed in claim 1, wherein: said inflation unit includes a gas cylinder; and said driving mechanism includes a pulling cord that has one end connected to said gas cylinder, and an opposite end extends outwardly from said air bag and adapted to be pulled by an operator to generate the actuating signal. 